Brien Roche
Brien Roche is an experienced truck accident lawyer. He serves all of Northern Virginia. This includes Fairfax, McLean, Vienna, Burke, Annandale, Falls Church. Also Reston, Centreville, Manassas, Alexandria, Herndon, Arlington, and Loudoun County. If you have been involved in a truck accident contact us for a free consult.
Truck accident lawsuits are hard fought and complex. Our roadways are loaded with large trucks. They are called 18-wheelers. These are mammoth vehicles. They occupy their entire lane. They are driven by experienced drivers. However these drivers make mistakes.
There are about 500,000 tractor trailer crashes in the U.S. each year. Driver error is the most common cause of crashes. However other factors may be weather, road conditions or vehicle performance.
There are an estimated 2 million tractor trailers on the road nationwide. The primary causes of tractor trailer crashes and how to address those causes are discusssed below:
In investigating these crashes, aside from focusing on the causes above, consider the following:
Truck accident investigation is easier with the advent of the Compliance Safety Accountability Program by the FMCS Administration. The data from CSA must be requested through FOIA. This is designed to identify potentially high risk trucking companies. Also the system uses a number of different factors to provide a rating. Those are:
However make sure the data you have relates to the company you are dealing with. When a company changes hands it receives a new Department of Transportation number.
In addition, the U.S. has implemented a pre-employment screening program. This is open to carriers relating to potential hires. If the defendant uses that system, if applicable, it will help.
Finally, certain carriers that have been non-compliant with log requirements must have an electronic on-board recorder. These recorders are less susceptible to manipulation. Furthermore in reviewing any data from these recorders be aware of any audits of this equipment. These are conducted so as to identify any changes to the log. Call, or contact us for a free consult.
An Illinois state trooper on March 28, 2013 was hit by a tractor trailer. He was parked on the left shoulder of Interstate 294. A United Van Lines truck pulling a trailer struck him. The trailer was loaded with household goods. The driver had already worked a 12 hour shift loading that truck. He then drove for another 4 hours. He fell asleep at the wheel. His truck went off the road crashing into the trooper’s vehicle. The trooper was engulfed in flames. He died of those burn injuries. The 26 year-old truck driver was criminally charged. Also the moving company was fined for breaking federal law prohibiting a driver to be on duty for more than 14 hours without getting rest. Finally a suit against United Van Lines settled for over $10 Million.
Truck accident standards are in the FMCS regs. However those regs are not the only source of standards. In adition there are industry standards and also standards in the CDL manual.
There are some basic industry standards. Drivers must approach every intersection assuming that cross traffic may not obey the signals. Also drivers must not start a left turn until there is enough time for the rear of their vehicle to clear the intersection without forcing opposing drivers to slow down. Furthermore drivers have a duty of extreme caution when there is bad weather. They must reduce their speed by one-third (1/3). Those basic rules can be a tremendous help in any truck accident case. The FMCS Regs carry the force of law. Industry standards do not.
The CDL manual is an excellent source of standards. The FMCS regs require every state to provide a CDL manual. It must contain the basic info and skills that drivers need. The manual states that drivers need to look 12 to 15 seconds ahead. In addition the CDL manual for the state of the accident and also the CDL manual for the state where the driver is licensed can be used. Although they may be the same, there may be some slight differences.
Another source of standards is the material that the industry uses to teach new drivers. Also these are used to refresh experienced drivers in their various driving schools.
In addition many companies maintain what are called preventability manuals. They assess whether their drivers acted reasonably in a crash. There are three commonly used manuals. They are published by the American Trucking Association, the National Safety Council and the Federal Highway Authority. Also these can be good sources of truck accident standards.
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Twin-trailer trucks are two to three times more likely to be involved in a truck accident than are standard trucks. These trucks are more than 100 feet long. At that length, they are inherently unstable. They jackknife and roll over. They are slow. Also they delay traffic. Going uphill and merging are tough for these drivers. Also they have increased side to side movement in heavy wind. In addition on wet roads they create a splash effect making travel in parallel lanes almost impossible.
Underride refers to a car riding under the back of a truck. The U. S. Department of Transportation has standards regarding proper rear-impact guards for tractor trailers. However there is some dispute as to what those rear-impact guards should be. That is how high off the ground they should be. Earlier regs allowed heights of 30 inches. That may still govern some trucks. However some say the guards should be no higher than 18 inches. There is further dispute about the strength of these guards.
The regs do not mandate the use of guards that absorb energy through the use of hydraulics. The guards that are on most vehicles at this point are fixed objects. As a result they do not absorb impact. Rather they simply prevent riding under.
The U.S. regs may create a federal preemption question. However Congress has not shown any intent to occupy that field exclusively. Therefore preemption should not be a bar to asserting state tort claims.
Aside from rear underride there is also a problem with side underride. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that there were 1,542 people killed in two-vehicle crashes with tractor trailers in 2015 and that 301 of those involved side collisions.
U.S. regs do not mandate any side guards. However the Insurance Institute says the risk of injury is less with such side guards.
In addition the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that trailers with reflector tape on the side are much less likely to have side underride crashes.
Many countries around the world have regs requiring side guards. They protect people in cars and on motorcycles.
Truck accident discovery is critical. Trucks are complex. The relation between the company and the driver is complex. What follows is a series of proposed Interrogatories to the driver and then secondly to the company.
1. Give the dates and results of all medical exams required by the U.S. Department of Transportation. In addition state the date, name of the examiner, location of the exam and the results.
2. State if you have been involved in any prior collisions or have received any prior traffic citations and if so then give the date, circumstances, and outcome of each.
3. If you have been cited for any violations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations either in this incident or any other then give the date, facts of such and the outcome of any such citation.
4. If you have ever been placed out of service for any traffic citation or FMCSR violation state the date, facts and outcome of such.
5. Identify every state that has ever issued you a driver’s license. In addition give the date of such and the current status of that license. Call, or contact us for a free consult.
6. Set forth in chronological order your prior employment, the name of the employer, dates of employment, and the reason for separation.
7. Describe all driver training that you have had giving the dates, the name of the company or individual that provided the training and any certificates that you have received.
8. Describe in detail the pre-employment screening process associated with the position that you occupied on the date of this incident giving the date of any such screening and the circumstances.
9. Provide in detail all training that you have received from the company that you were associated with in regards to the vehicle in question in this case.
10. As to any communications between yourself and the company with which you were associated on the date of this incident give the date and time of those communications, the content of those communications, the names of the individuals involved in such communications and the nature of the communications, i.e. text, email, radio, or otherwise.
11. Describe in detail your relationship with any of the other named Defendants to this action as of the date of this incident.
1. Identify precisely the owner of the tractor and the trailer involved and describe in detail all signage on either of these. In addition include within your answer the DOT number for each vehicle and all prior business names that you have ever operated under.
2. Set forth in detail your relationship with any other Defendants in this lawsuit.
3. State whether or not the driver of the vehicle in question was acting within the scope of the employment at the time of the collision.
4. State whether or not the driver who was involved in this collision was tested for the presence of alcohol or drugs after the collision and if so when, by whom, and what the results were of such testing.
5. Describe in detail the employment evaluation process for the driver in question. Also your answer should include but not be limited to the date of the driver’s road test, who conducted it and what the results were.
6. Identify in detail and by name any documents that constitute your safety policy or policies. State in what format they exist, i.e. paper, electronic, or otherwise.
7. Identify all policies concerning driver discipline for violation of any motor carrier safety regulations, stating the name of any such policy manual and state in what format these policies exist, i.e. paper, electronic, or otherwise.
8. State in detail your safety training practices for each driver. In addition identify all training documents and the names of the individuals responsible for overseeing safety as of the date of the incident in question.
9. Detail all factors affecting the driver’s compensation. Also within your answer set forth in detail precisely how the driver was compensated as of the date of this incident.
10. If the tractor involved in this collision is equipped with any on-board or satellite vehicle tracking equipment or audio or video recording equipment then identify any such equipment. Also state who is the current custodian of any data from that equipment.
11. State who is the current custodian of all log books for the trip in question in this action and identify what form they exist in, i.e. paper, electronic, or otherwise.
12. In regards to the trip that the driver was working at the time of this crash set forth in detail the cargo that was being carried, the trip route, all stops and intended destinations.
13. Identify the manufacturer and model number of the engine of the truck, the truck itself, and the trailer.
14. Set forth the gross and curb weight of the tractor and trailer as of the time of this collision or as of the beginning of the trip in question.
15. How many trucks and trailers do you own and/or lease and how many drivers do you employ or contract with as of the date of this collision.
16. If you contend that there was any equipment failure that contributed to this crash then identify the nature of the equipment that you contend failed. Also identify the nature of the failure, and identify any documents that would evidence any such failure.
17. If the truck in question was leased by you, then identify the date of any inspection of that truck, all documents evidencing any such inspection and in particular what the inspection disclosed.
18. Set forth in detail all means by which you communicated with the driver from the beginning of this trip up to time of the collision. Also identify who is the current custodian of any such communications.
Call, or contact us for a free consult. Also for more information on truck accidents see the pages on Wikipedia. Also see the other pages on this site.
© 2020 Brien Roche Law
